As The Gothamist’s Alec Hamilton reports, “Returning veterans can face a wide variety of mental and physical health challenges, and may have unique needs resulting from their service…. Many veterans are returning with the less visible wounds of mental trauma, wounds which can be devastating for the individual as well as their families and communities.” His October article explores whether our region is prepared to help the over 1.3 million veterans in the greater New York City region. Adding Long Island to that mix dramatically increases the numbers of veterans in our region.

In addition to physical and mental health needs, returning veterans will look to join the work force, or return to school. A post on The Hill’s healthcare blog reported that the White House “issued a challenge to community health centers to hire 8,000 veterans… over the next three years. And it said physician assistant programs that help train veterans would get priority grant funding.” That same post noted that the “jobless rate for veterans was 8.7 percent last year, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, adding up to more than 200,000 people.”

So the question remains: Are we prepared to meet the healthcare, training, and education needs of our region’s veterans?